Sydney Cup 2023

Ladbrokes Tip: The Chairman’s Handicap has produced more Sydney Cup winners than any other lead-up race

The Sydney Cup is one of four Group 1 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival features held on Day 2 of The Championships at Royal Randwick Racecourse on the second Saturday in April* each season.

2022 Sydney Cup winner Knights Order. Photo: Steve Hart.

*In 2021 the Sydney Cup ran on the third Saturday of April with all race meetings of the autumn in Sydney from Slipper Day onwards postponed a week due to the weather.

The meeting’s headline race is also the The Championship’s richest – the Group 1 $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m). The Sydney Cup is another lucrative clash offering a total of $2 million in prize money including $1.2 million to the Sydney Cup winner.

In 2020 the Sydney Cup prize money was reduced to $1 million with $580,000 for the winner due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned to $2 million for the 2021 edition.

Run over 3200m the two mile classic is held over the same distance as the ‘race that stops a nation’ – the Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington on the first Tuesday of November in the spring. Stayers in the Sydney Cup field face off under handicap conditions with the lowest handicap weight being 50kgs, or 48kgs for the three-year-olds. Winners of the Chipping Norton Stakes and Tancred Stakes (formerly The BMW) are exempt from Sydney Cup ballot.

The traditional lead-up to the Sydney Cup is the Group 2 Chairman’s Handicap (2600m) run the previous Saturday and that also offers a ballot and penalty exemption for the Group 1 back at the track the following weekend.

The last horse to complete the Chairman’s Handicap – Sydney Cup double was the Gai Waterhouse-trained The Offer (2014).

The 2023 Sydney Cup took place at Royal Randwick on Saturday April 8, 2023 as part of Day 2 of ‘The Championships’ and was won in an upset by the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Explosive Jack ($26). 

Sydney Cup Race Info

• Date: Saturday April 8, 2023
• Track: Royal Randwick Racecourse
• Distance: 3200m
• Conditions: Handicap
• Status: Group 1
• Prize Money: $2 million
• First Run: 1862

2023 Sydney Cup Results

The 2023 Sydney Cup results and finishing order will be confirmed on Saturday April 8, 2023 and announced below as soon as available.

2023 Sydney Cup winner Explosive Jack was excellent posting his first win since a Derby double back in 2021. Photo: Steve Hart.

• 1st: #8 Explosive Jack
• 2nd: #20 True Marvel
• 3rd: #2 Knights Order

The Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Explosive Jack ($26) was enormous posting an upset in the Sydney Cup 2023 results ahead of triple-figure roughie True Marvel ($151) and the reigning champion Knights Order ($16). Apprentice Dylan Gibbons got a dream run in the two-mile classic to post his first Group 1 success on Explosive Jack who won for the first time since the 2021 ATC Derby – SA Derby double.

Sydney Cup Betting

Sydney Cup betting is led each year by the best performing stayers in the Chairman’s Handicap held only seven days earlier on Day 1 of The Championships.

Horses that ran in the first four in their lead-up runs have a top record in the classic and so always feature highly up the Sydney Cup odds as do gallopers with proven two mile form.

Only four Sydney Cup winners since 1983 have come off a lead-up run outside of Sydney with the former Kiwi-trained mare Etah James (2020) having run fourth in the Auckland Cup across the Tasman, the UK raider Polarisation (2017), Adelaide Cup winner Gallic (2007), and Mr. Prudent (2001) who ran third in a Melbourne Group 3 at Caulfield.

Sydney Cup favourites have a solid record in the race over the past decade with six saluting for the punters from 2005 – 2023 most recently The Offer (2014).

Older gallopers also run well in the race with six seven-year-old winners including Etah James (2020) and Knights Order (2022), one eight-year-old veteran and Who Shot The Barman (2018) winning at nine years of age from 2006 – 2020.

There was a notable upset in 2021 with Selino saluting at 25/1 to hand trainer Chris Waller a fifth win in the two-mile classic.

In 2023 there was another upset with Explosive Jack winning at Sydney Cup odds of $26. He defeated fellow roughies True Marvel ($151) and the previous year’s champ Knights Order ($16) in a lucrative Sydney Cup trifecta.

2023 Sydney Cup Odds

The Sydney Cup 2023 betting odds will be published below as soon as markets on the Group 1 two mile classic are open.

Sydney Cup Field

Grand Marshal (2015) won at Sydney Cup odds of $41 in an upset autumn Group 1 result. Photo Credit: Steve Hart.

The Sydney Cup field attracts the season’s best stayers coming out of the Chairman’s Handicap the previous weekend also held at Randwick.

The Chairman’s Handicap has produced more Sydney Cup winners than any other lead-up race with The Offer (2014) the latest to do the double. Knights Order (2nd in 2022) was the last Sydney Cup winner to come out of the Chairman’s on the quick back-up.

Earlier, Rosehill’s Group 3 Sky High Stakes (2000m) held in March can be a solid Sydney Cup lead-up but Country Tyrone (2006) was the last to do the double.

The Group 3 NE Manion Cup (2400m) at Rosehill on Golden Slipper Day is another early Sydney Cup lead-up with The Offer (2014) the last to win both races in the same year.

Victorian gallopers meanwhile may have a lead-up into the Sydney Cup field via the Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) in late March.

Sydney Cup nominations close on a Tuesday in early February before first acceptances are taken a month later.

The final Sydney Cup field of acceptors and barrier draw are then out on the Tuesday before the race and often attracts horses that have previous two mile form in races like the Adelaide Cup in March and the spring’s iconic Melbourne Cup.

2023 Sydney Cup Field

The Sydney Cup 2023 field and barrier draw will be announced by Racing NSW on the Tuesday leading-up to race day and published in full below.

The 2023 Sydney Cup final field features a capacity line-up of 20 autumn stayers led in betting by Joseph O’Brien’s Irish raider Cleveland coming off a good first-up run in Australia when fifth at WFA in the Tancred Stakes.

2023 Sydney Cup Nominations

The 2023 Sydney Cup nominations close on Tuesday the 7th of February, 2023. 

The official Sydney Cup 2023 nominations attracted 133 autumn stayers.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2023 Sydney Cup First Acceptances

Sydney Cup first acceptances are taken in early March a month after the original nominations and about four weeks out from race day.

The 2023 Sydney Cup first acceptances close at 12:00pm (local Sydney time) on Tuesday the 7th of March, 2023. 

The 2023 Sydney Cup first acceptances are now out featuring 81 of the season’s top stayers with updated markets led by the UK-trained international entry Earl Of Tyrone and Ciaron Maher & David Eustace’s European expat Glory Daze who is two from three down under at time of publish.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Sydney Cup Tips

Sydney Cup tips favour proven stayers with good lead-up form at Randwick or Rosehill, especially those that ran well in the previous weekend’s Chairman’s Handicap.

Horses carrying between 52kg and 55.5kg also make for a top Sydney Cup tip with only two winners since 2000 carrying more than that to victory with Gallic (56kg in 2007) and Mourayan (58kg in 2013).

Three-year-olds have poor form in the race with just two wins since 1983 most recently Tie The Knot (1998) for his first, while the last mare to win was Jessicabeel (2010).

2023 Sydney Cup Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ exclusive Sydney Cup 2023 betting tips and exotic selections on the two mile autumn classic will be detailed below the week of the race so stay tuned for the stayers to back and sack in this year’s Sydney Cup trifecta.

• To Win: #12 High Emocean ($17 at time of publish) 

Going for an upset in the Sydney Cup, which isn’t uncommon in this two-mile autumn classic, and have the underrated Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Ocean Park mare High Emocean on top at any old price of 16/1 (at time of publish). Rated here the roughie of the race in the Melbourne Cup at this distance in the spring, and she was huge finishing third to Gold Trip. Strange to have her turning the tables, but the weights suit her again. She’s rock-hard fit fourth-up and on the quick back-up after her fourth to Surefire in last Saturday’s Group 2 Chairman’s Quality. Down from 56kg there to 51kg. Needs to slot in from that wide alley, but think she can surprise quite a few of these at a big price if she gets the right run.

Sydney Cup Form Guide

The Sydney Cup form guide gives punters all the information they need pre-betting including the trainers, jockeys, weights and barriers for all the horses in the field.

Looking at the Sydney Cup lead-up form is important with gallopers that finished top four in their final lead-up runs dominating the race, while the Chairman’s Handicap is the best form line for the two mile showdown.

Trainer Chris Waller has prepared five Sydney Cup winners in the past decade with Stand To Gain (2011), Grand Marshal (2015), Who Shot Thebarman (2018), Shraaoh (2019) and Selino (2021).

Jim Cassidy is the leading Sydney Cup jockey with three winning rides to date including on the Chris Waller-trained 40/1 roughie Grand Marshal (2015).

The 2022 Sydney Cup form was franked with Knights Order coming back that spring to place third in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m).

Sydney Cup Form Facts

• The only Sydney Cup winners to finish worse than fourth in their lead-up run since 2006 are Stand To Gain (2011) and Explosive Jack (Tancred Stakes 10th in 2023).
• Only five mares have beaten the boys in the Sydney Cup results in the past 30 years most recently Etah James (2020) and Jessicabeel (2010) a decade apart.
• Five-year-olds won seven of the editions of the Sydney Cup from 2011 – 2023 most recently Explosive Jack (2023).
• In the years from 2008 – 2023 five favourites in Sydney Cup betting saluted for the punters.
• The longest priced Sydney Cup winners in the past 30 years were Just A Dancer ($41 in 1991) and Grand Marshal ($41 in 2015).
• Barrier eight has produced the most Sydney Cup winners (since 1983) with 10.

2023 Sydney Cup Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive Sydney Cup 2023 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

Sydney Cup Records

Below we take a look at some of the Sydney Cup race records like what horse has run the fastest time in the Sydney Cup.

Sydney Cup Race Record: Apollo Eleven (1973) and Just A Dancer (1991) currently co-hold the Sydney Cup winning time record of 3:19.90.

Heaviest Weight Carried to Victory (since 1970): My Good Man (60kg in 1978)

Lightest Weight Carried to Victory (since 1970): Palace Revolt (48.5kg in 1989)

Sydney Cup Results

Sydney Cup results in the past 10 years have been dominated by the favourites.

The longest priced Sydney Cup winners in that time however were Explosive Jack ($26 in 2023), Selino ($26 in 2021), Grand Marshall ($41 in 2015) and Stand To Gain ($21 in 2011) so upsets are also not uncommon.

Some of the most noteworthy Sydney Cup winners in the past 30 years include The Offer (2014), Jessicabeel (2010) and Makybe Diva (2004).

Past Sydney Cup Winners

Recent Sydney Cup winners and place-getters going back to 2000 are detailed in the below table.